Coach of England's test team should be English, says New Zealander Fleming

Stephen Fleming is the fifth foreign coach to take charge of England’s test team but the New Zealander hopes his successors will be English and says he will seek to develop home-grown coaching talent during his tenure.

Fleming was appointed in July to replace compatriot Brendon McCullum, with Australian Trevor Bayliss and Zimbabwe’s Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower the other foreign coaches to have been at the helm of the test side.

“I do believe that primarily the national team should be coached by a national representative,” Fleming told the BBC in a podcast released on Monday.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity, but there will be some development in terms of the coaching, and you can see by our staff,” added the 53-year-old, who named former England players Marcus Trescothick, Richard Dawson and James Foster among his backroom staff last week.

Fleming also highlighted the importance of having a good working relationship with former New Zealand teammate McCullum, who remains in charge of England’s limited-overs team, with the Ashes and Cricket World Cup looming next year.

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“At some stage you’re going to have to give up some of your key assets. We look at what’s coming up, there’s a test series for us against South Africa,” he said.

“We then move to the Ashes, which is obviously the milestone event for the summer next year, and then there’s the World Cup.

“Making sure that the players are as fit as can be for each of those marquee events and that we turn out good sides is going to be a challenge.”

England visit South Africa in a three-test series beginning in December.